“I don’t need Skulduggery’s skills to recognise Necromancy when I see it.”

“Speaking of Skulduggery,” Ravel said slowly, “does he need to be contained?”

“Contained?”

“Don’t play innocent. You know what he’s like. Once she wakes up, he’ll be going after every Necromancer in the country.”

“Maybe we should let him.”

“We’re in charge now, Ghastly. We don’t have that luxury. This has to be done right.”

“Leave it with me. I’ll make sure he understands.”

“And listen,” Ravel said, “I know this goes against every fibre in your body, but Doctor Nye is the best man-woman-whatever for the job. It will save Valkyrie’s life.”

“Yeah, I know, it’s just… Things got complicated around here awfully fast, didn’t they?”

“Yes, they did. But we’re in charge now, my friend. We’ve got to be the ones to make the hard decisions. It’s inevitable that people are going to start hating us, sooner or later.”

“They can form a queue behind me, then.”

Ravel smiled sadly. “Yeah. Let me know when she regains consciousness, OK? Oh, any news on Tanith?”

Ghastly hesitated. “She was in Berlin last week. With Sanguine. They almost got her. But no. No real news.”

“You’ll find her.”

“Yeah,” Ghastly said, and left.

He went back to talk to Madame Mist, who had a surprisingly good grasp of Sanctuary law and procedures. Once he had been sufficiently briefed, he walked back to the Medical Ward. Skulduggery was sitting outside the Operating Theatre, his head down, his hat on the chair beside him. His skull gleamed under the light. He looked up as Ghastly approached.

“Nye predicts a full recovery,” Skulduggery said, his velvet voice sounding disturbingly hollow. “She’ll wake in an hour or two. There’s a nurse in there with her now.”

“Where’s Fletcher?”

“I sent him home. He seemed traumatised.”

“Seeing your girlfriend slashed to ribbons will probably do that to you,” Ghastly said. “And how are you?”

“Meaning?”

“She was almost killed.”

“I am aware. You’re waiting to see if I’ll get angry.”

“I already know you’re angry. You’re sitting very still and you’re talking very quietly. You’re getting ready to kill someone.”

“I just need a name.”

“You know the name. A Necromancer did that to Valkyrie, and there’s only one out there who’d be motivated enough to do it.”

Skulduggery’s head tilted. “You’re going to tell me that I can’t go after her?”

“Not at all. I’m telling you that if you do go after her, she’ll kill you. She’s the Death Bringer.”

Skulduggery picked up his hat, and stood. “I’ll take my chances.”